BARBADOS’ TOURISM SECTOR is going in the same direction as the poorly-performing sugar industry which was once a major foreign exchange earner.
And while the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) and other private sector bodies have repeatedly identified the issues facing the industry and the economy, Government has been “lethargic” in responding to their concerns.
This was the assessment of BHTA president Patricia Affonso-Dass today when she gave her report at the association’s annual general meeting at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
Noting that many of the prime agricultural lands had been taken out of production for housing developments or to lie fallow, Affonso-Dass said land owners were looking for the best economic return on their investment.
However, she pointed out that the tourism sector had no such “luxury”.
“We cannot take our hotel plant elsewhere but we are fast following the sugar industry with the number of hotels which are either closed, up for sale or just are not meeting their cost of production,” she said.
Affonso-Dass stressed that there had been “enough talking”.
Full reports in tomorrow’s DAILY NATION
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